Injuries halted Matt Mitrione's NFL career earlier than he would have liked, but that didn't stop the competitive fires from burning inside him.

An invitation to fight from a good friend led Mitrione to the gym and though the fight never materialize, an interest in MMA was born.

Now, the former New York Giant is one of 16 heavyweights set to enter our households every Wednesday night on Season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter.

Last week, the always entertaining Mitrione took the time to answer questions about everything from how he got into MMA and what it was like living in The Ultimate Fighter house, to the heat between this season's coaches and Kimbo's cooking skills.

This is the K2 Interview Series ... with Matt Mitrione.

As a former NFL guy, what drew you to Mixed Martial Arts?

A good friend of mine plays baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies, Jayson Werth. We're from the same hometown. He called me up and asked me if I wanted to fight in some fights he was putting on in our hometown of Springfield, Illinois.

Jason loves our product - I own a sports nutrition company called EDEN, E for engineered, D for designed, N for Nutrition - and so Werth's tried us out and he loved it, so he wrote a testimonial.

As a result of him writing the testimonial, I told him I would do a favor for him if he ever needed one. Well, he called in that solid and asked me to go ahead and fight in this show that he was going to put on in October of last year.

Well, I had never trained officially for MMA, but that ended up being the fateful call that got me into MMA.

Jayson Werth, former Toronto Blue Jay, so that's two Canadian ties for you as we were talking about earlier.
That's right, that's right. I'm referencing Canada as much as I can here, brother.

We're seeing a big influx of former football players right now. What is it about MMA that translates to yourself and fellow football players as an avenue post-football?
That's a very good question.

MMA allow us, and by us I mean ex-athletes, to have an outlet for our aggression and football is a perfect outlet for that. But once that's gone, once that's taken away from you, the feeling of satisfaction that comes from dominating another human being in a physical fashion is gone and completely taken away from you and there is no middle ground.

There is nothing you can do unless you go get in a bar fight, but then you're going to jail. So there is nothing there and I think that's why MMA is an attractive draw for ex-ballplayers and people with a physical background. It applies to wrestlers too, man. Wrestlers are on a direct pipeline to MMA now.

You're sort of the freshest and newest to the sport of the TUF cast members this season, having not yet had your first professional fight. Do you think being so new to the sport gives you any kind of advantage, as you haven't gotten set in your ways and are more willing to learn and listen?
I agree 100% with that actually. I think it really works to my benefit to be so green because I really don't have any preconceived notions about what the best way to sprawl is, what the best way to counter a jab is, how to parry, you know?